Three bank robberies for Iowa town during Bush, Kerry visits

Police: City patrols were normal

DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNN) -- Three banks in this town were robbed Wednesday while President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry hosted rival campaign rallies, police said.

Davenport Police Lt. Don Gano said all three armed robberies appear to have been "coordinated" to coincide with the campaign visits. Bush and Kerry held events three blocks apart.

One person has been arrested in connection with one of those holdups, and investigators are trying to determine whether the other robberies were connected. But Gano said witnesses to the other robberies gave different descriptions of the perpetrators.

Though security was heavy for the two campaign events, Gano said police met their normal patrol demands by working officers overtime.

"We did not shortchange the city with patrols," he said.

Gano said Davenport usually experiences one to two bank robberies a year, but the city has experienced "a rash" of holdups recently -- seven in the past month.